Purple, like the logo: Not sure if Bethanie Mattek-Sands is the WTAer I’dve taken with me to the NYSE to ring the opening bell, Ms. Allaster. Is this the image we want to project to the world about who is playing tennis these days? I guess we can mix things up, seeing that Serena Williams and Vika Azarenka got a chance to thank SAP when that data partnership was announced in Cincinnati (Western & Southern Open).

Stylist Julien Farel has been taking care of players’ hair at the U.S. Open for five years running (and, for 2011, blogging about it at Tennis Channel). We asked him a few questions this week.

TSF: How did you get started working with tennis clients?Julien Farel: I use to do it for Roland Garros and always thought it was a great tournament and sport for JF Group. Now we’re in our fifth year at the Open.

TSF: Whose hair is the most fun to style?JF: Cutting Rafa Nadal, or styling Lauren Bush or Gwyneth Paltrow is tough to compare, they are all great — and the best in their fields!

TSF: And whose are you dreaming of working on?JF:Federer and Sharapova. Penelope Cruz and JLo.

TSF: Do you follow the sport?JF: Yes I am I big fan of tennis and try to play as often as I can. I prefer singles and I like the back hand passing shot.

TSF: How much does a player’s outfit for a particular tournament play into how you cut/style their hair?JF: A lot. I particularly like Wimbledon because it is all-white: very classic and elegant. I love the classic! I love Nadal’s haircut with a very fitted outfit. It’s very trendy, sexy, and cool.

TSF: What about accessories?JF: I like men’s hair accessorized with headbands or sweatbands; for the women, a fishtail or classic braid. They can control frizz with a little JF Relaxing Balm and that will do the trick.

TSF: What are players most concerned about with their hair?JF: Keeping the hair off their face and controlling the frizz. JF styling products work great because they all contain an UVA protection to keep the hair hydrated and healthy.

It’s been around for a while now — at least since the start of 2011 — but we’re still not over how much better this boy cut is on Carla Suarez Navarro (compared to this, we mean).

The Spaniard fell to Andrea Petkovic in the fourth round of the 2011 U.S. Open 6-1, 6-4. Petko had a tough time closing out the match but eventually prevailed. She’ll play the winner of Wozniacki/Kuznetsova (which is being contested as we type).

Maria Kirilenko ended the run of local fave Christina McHale in the third round of the 2011 U.S. Open. The 25th seed defeated McHale 6-2, 6-3, which puts her at her best showing at the U.S. Open thus far. Kirilenko’s also made the round of 16 at the French (this year and last year) and the quarters of the 2010 Aussie Open. She’ll next face the winner of the Stosur/Petrova match. (Draw:Women’s Singles)

The details: Maria did everything a little better than McHale on the court, including with their outfits. The Russian’s clothes, from this season’s adidas Barricade line, include “Intense Blue” and “Intense Pink” as its colors. Sprinkle some gold jewelry, a dark nail color, a few wristbands, some braids within braids (!), purple laces on white/yellow on her shoes, and a slouchy dark fuschia bag to bring on the court. Perf.

Madrid: Fourth seed Murray ran into the Thomaz Bellucci train at this week’s Mutua Madrid Open. The Brazilian is still in it, nabbing a semifinal spot after upsetting 7th seed Tomas Berdych 7-6 (2), 6-3. Bellucci will play the winner of Ferrer/Djokovic and Nadal, who beat Llodra, will face either Federer or Soderling. (Draw: The Madrid Open Men’s Bracket)

Look down: As hypnotizing as it is, look away from Muzz’s fuzz for a sec and check out his fun blue adidas polo, part of their Barricade group and exclusive to Andy. Loving the green detail in the placket. Buy: adidas Men`s Barricade Traditional Tennis Polo; $51.99; tennisexpress.com.

Hey, Andy: Ernests wants his hair back. (Take him up on it, please. We don’t want a repeat of Aussie Open ’08!)

Andy Murray, vying for a title at this week’s China Open — along with top seed Nole Djokovic, Soderling, and Kolya — is wearing a polo and shorts from adidas‘ Barricade line. This was the same outfit he wore at the 2010 US Open, where, as the tournament’s fourth seed, he got upset by Stan Wawrinka in the third round. In Beijing, Muzz beat qualifier Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 6-3. Draw: The China Open men’s second round schedule’s been set. See the match-ups here.

Leave it to Andy Roddick to make a head shave seem hilarious and semi frightening all at once. The top American, who lost in shocking fashion to unknown Yen-Hsun Lu in the fourth round at Wimbledon, told the ATP that “There was no deep reasoning. I had a Britney Spears moment after Wimbledon.” No deep reasoning?! Andy! Didn’t you follow the 12 months of Brit’s life before that head shave?? Her reasoning couldn’t have been deeper. It seems as though Roddick was mightily bummed by his disappointing performance at the All England Club, capping off a topsy turvy 12 months himself. Southern refreshment: Andy has taken his new hair (and new game?!) to the Atlanta Tennis Championships with a wildcard into the new event. See the draw here.

While Roddick may be into head shaving, Serena is into nail-doing and Nicole is into marrying. In a recent Vogue online feature, writer Marina Rust, interviews Williams while she gets her nails done – by Serena! The manicurist (Serena aka Kandse) chatted about life outside of tennis while the two breathed in polish fumes, Rust making a good point when she said it was a better way for them to chat then trading a few groundstrokes. Meanwhile, former (yes, former) pro Nicole Vaidisovatraded vows withRadek Stepanek over the weekend. Who knew that Vaidisova, who was locked in a tough semifinal battle with Serena just three years ago at the Australian Open, would be retired and married at age 21. Such is the life of a WTA superstar, we suppose.

Martina Hingis is no WTA superstar anymore (nor is she involved with Stepanek… though she once was), but the Swiss Miss is continuing her post-tennis life by exploring the different pleasures of life. Her most current obsession? Polo. Hingis was spotted in Florida getting some polo lessons last weekend. Maybe Britney will cast her (or Andy?!) in her next video.

After the cut: two online screen grabs that grabbed our attention this week plus a full (and plentiful!) version of short(er) balls, the best never-ending paragraph you’ve ever come across. [Read more…]